Category: Environment

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Energy Environment Physics

Solar Panels work by absorbing LIGHT from the sun, not heat

Solar Panels on top of the Roof
Whether it is the expenditure on food, accommodation or luxuries, we want to save money on everything. When it comes to the electricity bill, the scenario is no different. One of the best ways to do that is by installing solar panels on your home. With the expenditure of each kilowatt of solar, it will let your utility bill reduce up to $0. There are even various service providers which can even let you end up with a negative electricity bill when you are having a solar home. But, if certain environmental factors aren't there. putting solar panels atop your home's roof might not be for you. Sunlight is the most obvious one of these environmental factors, and homes with good south, southwest or southeast exposure in sunny states will generally produce more energy than solar panels in darker areas or facing the wrong direction. Additionally, a good roof for solar panels is unobscured by shadows from dormers, chimneys or trees, and should measure at least 200 square feet. If you live in the United States, you can get a good idea of how much sun your state gets at Energy.gov and check how popular solar panels are in your state at SEIA.org Image source: PXHere

Ignorance is a very, very bad thing. Last week, as North America suffering from extreme cold weather because of a phenomenon called “polar vortex“, Jim Hoft, founder of the American far-right news and opinion website The Gateway Pundit has tweeted that: “It’s a bit cold outside this morning in middle America… Aren’t you glad you aren’t heating your home with a solar panel like nitwit socialist @AOC is demanding?” (@AOC is the American politician and activist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez here.) What Jim Hoft says is flat-out wrong. Solar panels DO work in the cold. They work by absorbing LIGHT from the sun, not heat.

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Climate Animals Environment Global Warming Life on Earth

African musicians protest the destruction of the environment with a song titled “Samalilani” (Preserve)

Samalilani
Musicians from Zambia (Africa) protest the destruction of the environment and the wildlife with the song titled "Samalilani". They also draw attention to climate change and environmental issues facing Zambia, like deforestation and charcoal burning.

Musicians from Zambia (Africa) protest the destruction of the environment and the wildlife with the song titled “Samalilani” (means “preserve” in English). They also draw attention to climate change and environmental issues facing Zambia, like deforestation and charcoal burning.

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Global Warming Climate Environment Technology

Why We Need to Trust Technology to Fight Climate Change

OCO-2
Artist's depiction of NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) environmental science satellite which launched on 2 July 2014. The spacecraft is being used to study carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations and distributions in the atmosphere. CO2 is the greenhouse gas that is the largest human-generated contributor to global warming. Image: NASA

Based on the Paris Climate Agreement, more than 6,000 cities, states, and provinces in dozens of countries must drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 to save life as we know it. The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report foretells an inhospitable Earth unless we achieve this monumental undertaking.

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Environment People

How Cities Will Evolve to Become More Sustainable

Central Park
Increasing environmental sustainability has become an important topic both on the minds of many individuals and in the media. This is for good reason - recently, studies have starkly illuminated the impact of climate change and the role humans play in increasing global temperatures. With sobering consequences such as drought and more severe weather patterns, an increased number of people have started to consider how they can become more sustainable. In this global shift, many cities are moving to become more sustainable and decrease negative impacts on the environment. Although the level of involvement varies by city and country, an evolution is occurring as cities implement improved infrastructure and policies to become more sustainable.

Increasing environmental sustainability has become an important topic both on the minds of many individuals and in the media. This is for good reason – recently, studies have starkly illuminated the impact of climate change and the role humans play in increasing global temperatures. With sobering consequences such as drought and more severe weather patterns, an increased number of people have started to consider how they can become more sustainable. In this global shift, many cities are moving to become more sustainable and decrease negative impacts on the environment. Although the level of involvement varies by city and country, evolution is occurring as cities implement improved infrastructure and policies to become more sustainable.

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Travel Environment

Green Travel Tips for the Eco-Conscious Traveler

Railway
Trains are more energy-efficient per passenger mile than planes or cars. That's why traveling by train is one of the most eco-friendly transportation options, after walking and cycling. It is a lot easier traveling b y train if you live in Europe where these are the most common forms of transportation. Image: Pikwizard

There’s a lot of waste that occurs in the travel industry, which can weigh heavy on eco-conscious travelers who want to see the world while causing the least amount of harm possible. Although it’s impossible to travel without increasing your environmental footprint, there are steps you can take to ensure you don’t cause more waste than absolutely necessary to see the world you love exploring. Here are a few smart ways to cut back on your impact while traveling.

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Life on Earth Environment Planet Earth

New Maps Show How We Changed the Earth’s Surface Over the last 25 Years

Changing Earth: Americas
A portion of UC geography professor Tomasz Stepinski's new world map shows changing landscapes in North and South America. White indicates little or no change. Darker shades indicate the highest rate of change in each category. We can see while forests are gaining some land especially in Canada, there is a huge deforestation in South America, especially in the Amazon basin - but in a lot of other areas as well. Source: Graphic/Tomasz Stepinski/UC

We, humans, changing the Earth – mostly (almost always) in a bad way. Just over the last 25 years, we have destroyed 10% of the Earth’s wilderness. Now, a new world map created by the University of Cincinnati geography professor Tomasz Stepinski shows how the Earth’s surface has dramatically changed between 1992 and 2015.

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Environment Animals Climate Global Warming Life on Earth Plants

We are Destroying the Earth’s Wilderness [Humans wiped out 60% of wildlife]

Proboscis monkey
The proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) or long-nosed monkey is a reddish-brown arboreal Old World monkey with an unusually large nose. It is endemic to the southeast Asian island of Borneo and known as "the bekantan" in Indonesia. The proboscis monkey is a large species, being one of the largest monkey species native to Asia. Only the Tibetan macaque and a few of the gray langurs can rival its size. Sexual dimorphism is pronounced in the species. Males have a head-body length of 66 to 76.2 cm (26.0 to 30.0 in) and typically weigh 16 to 22.5 kg (35 to 50 lb), with a maximum known weight of 30 kg (66 lb). Females measure 53.3 to 62 cm (21.0 to 24.4 in) in head-and-body length and weigh 7 to 12 kg (15 to 26 lb), with a maximum known mass of 15 kg (33 lb). They generally live in groups composed of one adult male, some adult females and their offspring. All-male groups may also exist. Some individuals are solitary, mostly males. The proboscis monkey is assessed as endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and listed in Appendix I of CITES. Its total population has decreased by more than 50% in the past 36-40 years to 2008 due to ongoing habitat loss because of logging and oil palm plantations, and hunting in some areas due to the species being treated as a delicacy, as well as its use in traditional Chinese medicine. Text Source: Wikipedia Photo: PXHere

We, humans, are destroying the Earth’s wilderness at an alarming pace. Scientists say we have destroyed 10% of Earth’s wildlife habitat in just 25 years. Since 1993, 3.3 million km2 of global wilderness areas, particularly in the Amazon basin (almost 30%) and central Africa (14%) were lost. This is almost twice the size of Alaska!

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Categories
Space Exploration Environment Oceans Planet Earth

Point Nemo [The Spacecraft Graveyard!]

Point Nemo location in the Pacific Ocean
Point Nemo location in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies at least 2,688 km (1,670 mi) from the nearest land. It is also called "Oceanic pole of inaccessibility". Point Nemo, Latin for "no one" is also a reference to Jules Verne's Captain Nemo, a fictional character who appears in two of Verne's novels, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1874), and makes a cameo appearance in Verne's play Journey Through the Impossible (1882). Its remoteness is the reason why NASA uses the point as its "spacecraft cemetery".

In the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, there’s a location called “Point Nemo”. It’s not a place where humans live, in fact, there is no land there: not an island, not even a small rock. It is actually the remotest place from any human civilization you can find on Earth. It lies at least 2,688 km (1,670 mi) from the nearest land. It is also called the “Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility” (see notes 1).

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Earth from Space Environment Planet Earth Space Exploration

10 Best Earth Quotes

The Blue Marble
In December 1972, Apollo 17 spacecraft took a photo of Earth from space, at a distance of about 45,000 kilometers (28,000 miles). This image, with the official NASA designation AS17-148-22727, became known as "The Blue Marble", one of the most iconic photos of Earth from space. In fact, it was not the first clear image of Earth taken from space - similar photos had already been taken as early as 1967. But, the 1970s were the scene of a big surge in environmental activism. For example, on April 22, 1970, the first "Earth Day" was organized by Gaylord Nelson, former senator of Wisconsin, and Denis Hayes, a Harvard graduate student. Millions of people gather in the United States for the event. So, in today's terms, image AS17-148-22727 went "viral" and became a symbol of the environmental movement, as a depiction of Earth's frailty, vulnerability, and isolation amid the vast expanse of space. According to NASA archivist Mike Gentry, it is among the most widely distributed images in human history.

Earth, our beautiful blue planet. It is the third planet from the Sun, but above all, it is our home, the only astronomical object known to harbor life. Here are the top 10 best Earth quotes.

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Environment Climate Global Warming

Awkward Interview with Planet Earth (video)

Awkward Interview with Planet Earth - Foil Arms and Hog
Based out of Dublin, Ireland, Foil Arms and Hog is an Irish sketch comedy group comprising Sean Finegan, Sean Flanagan, and Conor McKenna. They perform on TV, radio, the stage and online. The trio write, shoot and edit a new sketch every week in their office, releasing it for Facebook and YouTube. Foil Arms and Hog do not have a specific genre and make sketches that are often observational and occasionally topical. Foil Arms and Hog was founded in 2008 while they were still in University College Dublin studying architecture, engineering, and genetics. The group's name evolved from nicknames each of the members had for each other, Foil (Sean Finegan) being the comedy foil, Arms (Conor McKenna) was 'All arms and Legs' and Hog (Sean Flanagan) because he ostensibly hogged the limelight.

A beautiful short sketch titled “Interview with Planet Earth” by the Irish sketch comedy group “Foil Arms and Hog”, addressing global warming and environmental issues in the group’s unique and funny style.

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